Palestine in Amman
From what I can tell, what’s now Jordan has always had shifting connections and overlap with what’s now Israel, Palestine, Syria, and Lebanon. Often it’s been tied to some invader – the Roman ruins I photographed yesterday are one sign. Then, as I learned as a teenager in Young Judaea, Jordan was still claimed as part of Greater Israel by right-wing Betarniks who had those “Both Sides of the Jordan” buttons we thought bizarre back in 1965. My Lonely Planet tour book highlights the many Biblical events situated east of the Jordan River.
Jordan’s control of the West Bank after 1948 and its incorporation of Palestinians expelled during the Nakba turned the country into a Palestinian-heavy nation, though not one, as far as I can tell, where there’s meaningful equality or ease. It seems ludicrous to still hear some right-wing American Jews insist that Jordan is the real Palestinian state. Seems like a time warp when I hear it.
Here in Amman, the Palestinian presence seems ubiquitous, but their focus is Palestine more than, say, transforming Jordan toward meaningful equality. In just two days I’ve already had four or five conversations with people asking politely the reason for my visit. When I tell them I’m on my way to Palestine, their tone shifts, their eyes widen in some surprise, they relax. They approve.
At a small art gallery yesterday, the artist on duty for the day eventually described in some length his admiration for Hamas’s honesty and his disgust for Fatah and Palestine Authority politicians, “thieves” who build “big palaces” in Amman and hang out in 5-star hotels while their people suffer. Another contact appreciated Hamas’s creativity and flexibility despite his distaste for their Islamist fundamentals. I read online a couple of weeks ago about an Amman protest against Israeli-grown produce sold in Amman markets. It seems to me that Jordan’s effort to maintain a peace with Israel is not going over all that well with large segments of the population in the absence of real movement by Israel toward justice for Palestinians, though I haven’t seen any polls.
Today I wandered up one of Amman’s many hills to Darat al Funun, described in the tour book as an exciting venue for contemporary art on a hillside overlooking much of Amman. I had no political project in mind, just looking at different neighborhoods, looking for mixtures of old and new. (I’ve gotten used to people constantly asking as I walk — looking at my map trying to figure out how to get from one hill to the next — where I’m going and if I need help. I think most tourists follow the tour book advice and take taxis. Or else they know where they’re going.)
As it turned out, the exhibit in Darat al Funun’s small main building, Return of the Soul by Jane Frere, consisted of thousands of expressive wax figures hanging from the ceiling, each representing the story of someone expelled during the Nakba. The description on the wall begins by noting that Frere’s interest in the Nakba was sparked by her visit to a concentration camp in Poland. I don’t mean to get into catastrophe comparisons, but the image of endless wandering is hard to shake.
After coffee in the gallery’s shady courtyard, I pushed myself back into the heat.
Jane Frere’s Nakba Installation
Tags: Amman, Jordan, Nakba, Palestine, political art